Ranjit Poojari Naik (22 October 1933 – 30 July 2004) was an architect and social worker who helped

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

slum dwellers. He had an involvement in nearly 50 slum redevelopment projects and was director of the People's Participation Programme. An activist for the

Banjara The Banjara (also known as ,Vanzara,Lambadi,Gour Rajput,Labana) are a historically nomadic trading caste who may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now Rajasthan. Etymology The Banjaras usually refer to themselves as ''Gor'' and out ...

people, Naik spoke at the second World Romani Conference in 1978, where he delivered a paper titled ''Banjara (Indian Roma) from Barothan''. Naik, who came from

Anantapur district Anantapur district officially: Anantapuramu district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located at Anantapur city. It is one of the driest places in So ...

, died in a Mumbai hospital on 30 July 2004. At the time of his death, he was incumbent president of the All-India Banjara Seva Sangh and the Sevalal Maharaj Charitable Trust in Sevagarh.

Bibliography

Naik's writings include: * All India Banjara Sevak Shibir Report (1966) - contributor * a report submitted on the All India Banjara Study Team Report (1969) * editor of ''Banjara'' published fortnightly in the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fami ...

between 1972 and 1975 * editor of ''Roma – Banjara'', published fortnightly in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

and English between 1982 and 1986 from Mumbai He was listed in the acknowledgements of a guide to Banjara embroidery produced by the Census Department, Government of India in 1981. He was invited to present a paper on Asian Regional Policy Consultation (

Habitat II Habitat II, the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was held in Istanbul, Turkey from June 3–14, 1996, twenty years after Habitat I held in Vancouver in 1976. Popularly called the "City Summit", it brought together high-level ...

of the United Nations) on 'Access to Land and Security of Tenure for Sustainable Development', Jakarta (Indonesia), 1995. Invited at the Preparatory Committee of United Nation's Human Settlement Conference (Habitat-II), New York, 1996. Invited to World City Summit at

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, June 1996. He was nominated as one of the 100 'Best Practices in the world' and awarded "UNCHS 1998 Awards for Excellence in improving Living Environment' by United Nation's Habitat-II. This firm has been recognised and awarded a plaque by the Urban Development Ministry of India on achieving this honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naik, Ranjit 1933 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Indian architects Social workers from Andhra Pradesh People from Anantapur district Indian newspaper editors Social workers Romani in India